Game Summary: Its not a bad game, but there is frequently a delay in the display of phsyics, especially if there are lots of people on the server. HL2 can barely support obscene numbers of things moving around (pile 200 cans, and you will see that they start freezing and falling through the ground), in this game, you can usually see the bricks at the beginning of their movement, at the maximum of their arch, and at the end, everything in between isn't really visible that well. I don't have a better computer to test it on, although the physics seem better in solo mode.
The editor is decent, but the documentation of it isn't excellent. The in-game help manual has a single page, and lists most of the in game commands. I don't know of any it doesn't, since I don't know them. It didn't list chat, I had no clue you had to press the / key until I read the text at the bottom of the screen.
There is only 3rd person mode, and you can't turn very sharp. Every figure should have a warning sign on the back that says "Warning, Wide Turns". The arms frequently get stuck on bricks, since they are immobile, and you are caught floating in the air. There is no Self Delete key, so you either have to shoot yourself, wait for someone to kill you, move the block you are stuck on (too bad if it is anchored terrain blocks) or leave the server and rejoin. Maneuvering in tight quarters is a real pain as well, due to the tight turns. Point and click building is difficult, there is no spawn menu in multiplayer so you have to use existing bricks or clone them. Controlling your figured in doors would be easier in first person, as would aiming up in the sky.
I believe that part of the reason there is no first person is because of the point and click building, you require a static view rather then one that rotates when you move the mouse.
Cool things about this game: Building a map is just snapping blocks together. In this respect, all maps appear to have a block feel to them. You can add custom textures to your server if you want, so people can build on a wooden floor rather then a huge green baseplate. Physics are fun, especially in death match. Although its annoying to be standing on a tower when someone blasts out the base, thats part of physics, and its really fun. There are also vehicles in this game, and you can build on them. I think you walk just as fast as they move though. But they roll down slopes. There are neat things, like motors and weapon bricks that I haven't figured out how to use, due to limited documentation. Also, blocks can be ported into the game from ldraw through a converter thing in the editor. The game works with LUA for creation of new content.
Bad things: See the paragarphs above cool things. Also, with the LUA, I don't know how the server system works and if you could spread gmod style worms, that would be really awful if you could. Maybe the LUA files are server side, and the only data that is trasnfered is images and models. Its an important point to consider, and could effect the security of the entire system.
Comercial brown townysis: I'm no advertising guru or an economist and am in no position to even faintly attempt to predict the future, but I could hazard a few guess and observations. Although the user group is small, and spreads mostly by word of mouth rather then agressive advertising tactics or being a member of a large gaming/modding community. I don't think the author of the game ever knew about blockland, and I doubt that the author wants to hurt the (future) sales.
I neither want to call the game a threat, nor do I want to sound like I'm brushing it off as some child's toy, its just another sandbox game. There are possibly enough differences between the two to allow them to cater to different audiences. Blockland is run using a well documented, supported, game engine, and counting the garagegames forum, has a huge knoledgable and potential modding and user database. It has lots of followers on 3-4 forums that will probably buy it, and they will probably tell their friends about it.
Meanwhile, Roblox doesn't appear to be going retail at the moment, although its still in the alpha testing stage. It won't take sales, but people may use it as a free alternative. All bets aside, I think that Roblox is a vast improvement over the arguments that were being had over The Builder's Game.
Final Comments: Please, don't screw with their community, and judge the game on more then just a single video. Also, don't suggest things from Roblox to Blockland, no matter how much fun you think the physics or weapons are.
